Friars’ Club East Coast/West Coast Turf War Ends
It’s all good, clean fun when comedians of a certain age squabble. Although the Friars’ Club ceased to be relevant way back in the Blazing Saddles era (roasting Steven Segal, Kelsey Grammer and Danny Aiello three years in a row? Seriously?), they’ve also been involved in a legal squabble against the California-based Friars of Beverly Hills over rights to the name.
Nikki Finke obtained a statement from Howard Rubinstein‘s firm (of course) that confirms the New York Friars’ Club now has court-approved rights to the name:
“In short,” the Court ruled, “Defendants are using a mark (used by The Friars Club for over a hundred years) to identify a social club that is for all intents and purposes modeled after Plaintiff’s historic club.” Such “free riding on the investment of The Friars Club must now come to an end.”
“It’s good that we are now able to put this all behind us and get back to business as usual at the Friars,” said Freddie Roman, the Dean of the Friars Club. “We had a good run on the West Coast for many years but now we move on. The Friars name is legally secure and we can continue to carry out the traditions our entertainment founders set forth over a hundred years ago.”
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